Device for attaching printing members on drums



1.. H. MORSE DEVICE FOR ATTACHING PRINTING MEMBERS ON DRUMS Nov. 26,1935.

Filed Nov. 24, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WK &

I I l l l l I II Nov. 26, 1935. 1.. H. MORSE 9 DEVICE FOR ATTACHINGPRINTING MEMBERS ON DRUMS Filed Nov. 24, 1934v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedNov. 26, 1935 DEVICE FOR ATTACHING PRINTING; MEMBERS N DRUMS I LawrenceH. Morse, Cleveland, Ohio, asslg'nor to Multigraph Company, Cleveland,Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Applicatlon November 24, 1934, SerialNo. 754,557 1 i In Germany December 28, 1933 16 Claims.

This invention relates to a rotary printing machine, and moreparticularly to that type of rotary printing machine which uses aflexible blanket or plate. The invention is especially concerned withthe method and apparatus for interchangeably placing the printing formor plate on the form roll, and for placing a rubber offset blanket orsheet on a transfer cylinder. These, therefore, are the general objectsof this invention.

A more specific object is the provision of a manually operativemechanism for removing and positioning a flexible blanket, such as aprinting form of the blank on a printing cylinder in such a man ner thatit will facilitate operating of the printing mechanism by unskilledworkers.

A further object is the provision ofa printing blanket. tensionmechanism for a rotary printing cylinder, which mechanism is mounted onthe cylinder, and is arranged to retain the printing plate on eitherside of. the attaching holes thereof into recesses on either sides ofattaching hooks of a plate retaining device carried by the printingmechanism.

Other objects of. the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription, which refers to a preferred embodiment thereof, asillustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary fron elevation of the inventionincorporated in a printing machine, certain parts thereof being brokenaway to more clearly illustrate the internal construction thereof Fig. 2is a vertical section, taken substantially along the lines 22 of Fig. 1;Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section, similar to Fig. 2, certaln of the partsbeing in a different position; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevationof. the printing mechanism, looking toward the left-hand end of Fig. 1;Fig. 5 is an elevation similar to Fig. 4, but illustrating certain partsin a diflerent position; Fig. 6 is a detail in perspective; Fig. 7 is aplan of a printing form, used in connection with the mechanismillustrated, partially broken away for ease of illustration.

As shown in the drawings, the printing mechanism with which theinvention is illustrated, comprises in general a pair of oppositelyfacing (Cl. 101-4151) I J I side frame members It and H, spaced apart byany suitable means, not shown. Mounted between the frame members IO and'l I, on a shaft I2, is a suitable rotatable form cylinder or roller'20. Beneaththe form cylinder and rotatably 5 mounted on a suitableshaft (not shown) is a coacting drum or roller 30. A .printing plate 40,which may be a planographic plate or other flexibleimage-carrying-member, is held on the drum 2| by means hereinafter morefully described. 10

rollers 20 and 30, or the roller 30 maybe a transfer roller and thepaper being fed betweenit and a suitable platen roller, not shown. Inkmay be supplied to the plate 40 by any inking system, the form roller ofwhich is generally indicated at i50, as contacting withthe plate 20. (meof the rollers of the press is driven as, for instance, the plate roller20, by means of a gear thereon, which is engaged by a suitable drivingmeans, (not shown). The other parts of the press may rotate byfrictional engagement with. the plate roller or bedrivingly gearedthereto, as will be well understood. In the plate drum 20 is shown a gapor opening of approximately a quarter circumference,

bounded by radial surfaces 26 and 21. In this gap is mounted the plateholdingdevice. As shown, theholding device comprises a fixed arcuatemember 6! secured to the drum, as by suitable screws 63, and a movablearcuate member 62 mounted to slide circumferentially on the arcuatesurfaces of the drum formed by. the end members thereof. The two arcuateplates GI and 62 each have projecting faces especially arranged, thefingers of one member projecting into the spaces of the other, so thatthe members telescope with i 7 each other.

' The member 62 is suitably retained in its position by a spring .64,(Fig. 2) connected to an car 65 depending inwardly from the member 62and at the other end to one arm. of a bell crank 5 5t, hereinafter to bemore fully described. This member 62 is given a tendency to move towardthe member 6i, as, for instance, by springs 6?, anchored at one end to arod 68 carried by the end members of the drum and at the other end toone arm of the bell crank 50, which is rigidly secured to a rock shaft5i rotatabl'y journalled in the end walls 53 of the drum. The other endof the bell crank is provided with a slot 64, which engages a pin or barcarried by the lug 5 2 65 in the member 62, he'reinbefore mentioned, the

arrangement being such that the springs 64 and 51 act to normally retainthe member 62 in contact with the drum and move it circumferentiallyingly, the movement of the fastening member 62,

under the influence of the spring 61, draws the plate snugly about theprinting'press and retains it in position thereon.

According to the present invention, the movable member 62 isshiftab'leaway from the stationary member 6|, against the action-of thespring 67, which engages the arms of the bell crank 50, by a reversalofv the rotation of the printing drum. that is, by rotating the printingdrum in a non-printing direction. A manually settable member 80 isprovided to control this operation. A

As shown in Fig. l, the member 80 comprises a plunger 8|, slidablymounted in the end frame member I0 and movable towards and away from theend wall 53 of the cylinder 28. When the plunger 8| is moved to aninnermost position, that is, in the extreme position toward the printingcylinder 2,9, an enlarged head 82 thereof projects into the pass of alever 83, which is rigidly secured to the rock shaft 5|, carrying thebell crank 50, heretofore mentioned. When the cylinder is rotated in aclockwise or non-printing direction,

that is, opposite the direction indicated in the arrow in Fig. 2, theedge 84 of the lever 83, (Figs.

1 and 6) will strike the head 82 of the plunger, causing the shaft 5| tobe rocked in a counterclockwise direction, thereby moving theplateretaining member 62 away fromthe stationary member 6|, against theaction of the spring 61. This relieves the tension on the printing plate40, enabling it to be readily removed from the pins or lugs I4 on themovable retaining member 62. The drum is rotated further inanon-printing direction, until the printing plate is entirely strippedor removed from the cylinder. The rotation and rocking of the lever 8!permits it to pass the plunger 8 I without damage to the parts.

When the printing drum is rotated in a counterclockwise direction,following the depression of the plunger 8|, a bevelled surface 85 of thelever 84 will strike the head 82 of the plunger and cause it to becammed outwardly, away from the printing drum, .into a suitable recess86 in the side frame member In, thereby preventing any damage to theparts, should for any reason the printing cylinder be turned in acounterclockwise or printing direction before manually withdrawingthe'plunger 88.

When anew plate is to-be mounted,,the openings 4| at the upper end ofthe plate are first placed over the pins 13 of the stationary. retainingmember 8| and the printing drum rotated in the printing direction, untilthe pins 14 in the movable member 62 have reached the level of theopenings 4| at the other end of the printing plate. The printingcylinder is now rotated a slight distance in a non-printing or clockwisedirection, moving the movable retaining member 62 into registration withthe openings 4 l, which are then placed ,over the pins 14 of suchspring-actuated member and are there pressed into the depression"surrounding the base of the pins.

. To facilitate the positioning of the printing plates on the pins orhooks 14, there is provided a swingable tined comb plate 98. This combplate 98 is secured to a rock shaft 9|, which is swingably mounted inthe frame members i8 and II in 5 front of the cylinder 20 and slightlyabove the axis thereof. The lowermost end of the plate 98 is providedwith'a series of notches which form tines 83 arranged in pairs, as shownin Fig. 1, to

coact with the printing plate at either side of each 10 retaining pin orlug 14. The rock shaft 9| extends through the left-hand wall or framemember l8, and is provided on its outer end with a lever 94. A suitablespring 95 acts between the lower end of the lever and the stationaryframe 15 member ID, to normally swing the tines of the plate away fromthe drum 28, and its associated parts.

' When the operator has aligned the opening 4| of the plate with thelugs 14 of the movable se- 20 curing member 62, asheretofore explained,he grasps the upper end of the lever 94 and rocks it together with thecomb plate against the action of the spring 95, forcing the tines 93thereof against the printing plate, thereby forcing the 25 ends in therecesses 12 of the seeming member It will be noted from Figs. 1 and 6that the printing plate is especially adapted for use in the presentinvention, and is provided with a serpen- 80 tine end, comprising aseries of outwardly projecting tongues separated by correspondinglyformed recesses 46, the arrangement of the tongues 45 being such thatthey readily seat in respective recesses II and '12 in correspondingly85' shaped portions of the plate members 5| and 62. The tines 93 are soshaped and spaced that a pair of tines coact with each' tongue of theprinting plate, between the opening 4| therein and the sides of thetongue. This readily facilitatesthe 40 positioning of the plate on thelugs 74. It will be noted that the openings 4| are for the most part inthe tongues of the plate. Hence, the positioning of the plate on thedrum is facilitated to a the extent that each tongue is independentlyflex- 4 ible. Therefore, when the plate is being positioned on the drum,the tendency of the plate to warp is practically eliminated.

The fork plate 98 is interlocked with the plunger 88, which controls thetensioning of the r movable retaining member 62. This interlock is soarranged as to prevent'the operator from swinging the comb plate 80 toinadventently cause the tines thereof to coact with the printing plate.To this end, the outermost end of the I plunger 8| has rigidly securedthereto a lever 85, the other end of which carries a pin I85. When thelink 85 is in its normal posit-ion, that is, in the position shown inFig. 4, the nose 82 of the plunger 8| is drawn into the recess 88 intothe frame and out of the path of travel of the lever 83 of the printingplate tensioning mechaor any part thereof.

When the printing blanket or plate is being positioned on the drum, thelink 85 is first moved from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the positionshown in Fig. 5, and the end of the plunger 8| cooperates with the lever83 to relieve the tension on the securing member 62, as hereto-' foredescribed. When in this position, the end 88 of the link has been movedto such an extent that the operator may readily rock the lever 84 fromthe position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 5, in whichlatter position theson of the fact that as soon as the machine is thedrum in much the same manner.

rotated in a printing direction, the plunger ti will be forcedoutwardly, carrying the pin mo out of contact with the recess NH, andpermitting the member 85 to-rock by gravity into contact with a pin 99carried by the frame member it, in which position the pin Hi coacts withthe arm 95 of the lever 9a to prevent its movement.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that this inventionprovides a mechanism for facilitating the positioning of a flexibleprinting blanket or form on a cylinder of a printing press and enablessuch blankets to be readily changed by unskilled operators, withoutliability ofdamage to either the printing blanket, the printingmechanism or the person of the operator. I have described the inventionas adapted for use in applying a printing plate to its drum. However, insome instances the offset surface 3i comprises a comparatively thinrubber or composition blanket shaped similarly to the plate heretoforedescribed and retained. in position on In such instances, I mayconveniently use my invention to apply the offset blanket to its drum.

I claim:

1. In a rotary printing or duplicating chine, a roll having means foranchoring thereon a printingplate or blanket, and a. pressure deviceindependent of the roll for forcing the end of such plate or blanketinto cooperation with the anchoring device in position to receive it.

2. In a rotary printing or duplicating machine, a roll having means foranchoring thereon a printing plate or blanket, an external manuallyoperable pressure device for forcing the end of such plate or blanketinto cooperation with the anchoring device in position to receive it.

3. In a rotary printing or duplicating machine, a roll having means foranchoring thereon a printing plate or blanket, a device for forcing theend of such plate or blanket into cooperation with the anchoring devicein position to receive it, and means to prevent the operation of thepressure device when the machine is in normal printing operation.

4. In a rotary printing or duplicating machine,

a roller having means for anchoring thereon a printing plate or blanket,and a movable comb having tines to engage and force the end of suchplate or blanket into cooperation with the anchoring device in positionto receive it.

5. In a rotary printing machine, the combination of a frame, a. drummounted in the frame and having projections adapted to engage openingsin a plate embracing the drum, and a device pivotally mounted on theframe andadapted to be moved to bear against the plate to force it intoengagement with said projections.

6. In a rotary printing machine, a frame, a removable'printing plateprovided with projece tions at the ends thereof, a rotary drum mounted nthe frame provided with guiding depressions substantially correspondingwith the projections on the printing plate, and a movable member carriedby said frame and adapted to engage the projections of the printingplate to facilitate the mounting of the plate on the drum. 5'

7. In a rotary printing machine, a frame, a

removableprinting plate provided'with projections at the ends thereof, arotary drum mounted in the frame with guiding depressions. substantiallycorresponding with the projections on the printing plate, and ,a movablecomb plate mounted on said frame and adapted to engage the projectionsof the printing plate to facilitate the mounting of the plate on thedrum.

8. In a rotary printing machine, a removable metallic printing plateprovided with perforated serpentine projections at the ends thereof, arotary drum having hooks to engage said perforations, said drumalsobeing provided with guiding depressions substantially correspondingwith the projections on the printing plate, and a movable comb platehaving tines' adapted to engage the projections of the printing platebetween the edges of the perforations and the edges of the projectionsto facilitate the mounting of the plate on the drum.

9. In a rotary printing machine, a frame, a

drum rotatably mounted in the frame, means on the drum for anchoring aprinting plate or blanket by engaging perforated projections at 80 theend of theplate or blanket, said means including hooks on the drum forentering the perforations in the plate or blanket, said drum havingguiding recesses corresponding to the projections on the plate orblanket, and rockable 85 means mounted on said frame to engage theprojections of the plate or blanket and force them into the recesses inthe drum.

10. In a rotary printing machine, a frame, a drum rotatably mounted inthe frame, means on go the drum for anchoring a printing plate orblanket by engaging perforated projections at the end of the blanket,said means including hooks on the drum for entering the perforations inthe blanket, sa.id drum having a guiding means n5 for the end of theblanket or plate, and rockable means mounted on said frame to engage theprojections of the plate and f0rce,them into the recess in the drum, andmeans to prevent the operation of said last-named means during thenormal operation of the printing machine.

11. In a rotary printing machine including a frame, a drum rotatablymounted therein, a device for anchoring one end of a printing plate orblanket to the drum, said device comprising a member mounted for slidingmovement in an arcuate path on the drum, -said member having means toengage one end of a printing plate or blanket, a lever pivotallyconnected to said member, a movable stop carried by the frame andadapted to be positioned in the path of said lever to cause a shiftingof said member, and means to automatically move the stop to an inactiveposition consequent upon the rotation of the drum in a. printingdirection. 85

12. In a rotary printing machine including a frame, a drum rotatablymounted therein, a device for anchoring one end of a printing plate tothe drum, said device comprising a member mounted for sliding movementin an arcuate path on the drum, said member having means to engage oneend of a printing plate, a rock shaft carried by the drum, a levercarried by said shaft and pivotally connected to said member, a secondlever carried by said shaft exterior of the drum, a movable stop carriedby the frame adapted to be positioned in the path of said secondnamedlever to cause a shifting'of said member, and means to automaticallymove the stop to an inactive position consequent upon 'the rotation ofthe drum in a printing direction.

13. In a rotary printing machine includinga frame having a drumrotatably mounted therein,

an anchoring device for one end'of aprint-ing plate, said devicecomprising a member mounted for sliding movement in an arcuate path onthe drum, said member having means to engage one end of a printingplate, a lever pivotally connected to said member, a movable stopcarried by the frame and positioned in the path of said lever to cause ashifting ofrsaid member, and means to automatically move the stop to aninactive position consequent upon the rotation "of the drum in aprinting direction, said means including a cam operatively connectedtosaid lever.

14. A rotary printing or duplicating machine, comprising a form rollhaving means for anchoring thereon a printing plate, said meanscomprising an anchorage device carried by the roll, a device for forcingthe end of the plate into cooperation with the anchoring device when theanchoring device is in a position to receive it, said anchoring devicecomprising a member movably mounted on the form roll, tension 'means toshift said member to tension the plate on the drum, a movable stop toshift the anchoring device against the action of the tensioning device.

15. A rotary printing or duplicating machine, comprising a form rollhaving means foranchoring thereon a printing plate, said meanscomprising an anchoring device carried by the roll, a movable device forforcing the end of the plate into cooperation with the anchoring devicewhen the anchoring device is in a position to receive it, said anchoringdevice comprising a member movably mounted onthe form roll, tensionmeans to shift said member-to tension the plate, a movable 10 stop toshift the anchoring device against the action of the tensioning device,and wherein said movable device is retained inoperative by said stopduring the normal operation of the printing machine. 1'5 16. A rotaryprinting or duplicating machine, comprising a form roll having means foranchoring thereon a printing plate, said means comprising an anchoringdevice carried by the roll, a manually operable device for forcing theend 20 of the plate into cooperation with the anchoring device when theanchoring device is in a position to receive it, said anchoring devicecomprising a member mounted on the form roll for movement in an arcuatepath, tension means to shift 25 said member to tension the plate, amovable stop to shift the anchoring device against the action of thetensioning device, and wherein said manually operable device is retainedinoperative by said stop during the normal opera- 80 LAWRENCE H. MORSE.

